What a difference a day makes

Friday 4am the nurse had to call me, Steve's carbon dioxide level went dangersouly high and had to be moved to a step down unit. He was placed a on CPAP unit and could not take it off or his oxygen level dropped dangerously low. You should have seen me trying to give him a spoon of ice. The air from the unit would blow the ice off the spoon before I could get it to his mouth. During the day we got word that one of his heart enzymes was very high, meaning he had had heart damage. This was confirmed by the cardiologist. The echo of the heart shows it is working okay so we can wait to get this breathing taken care of.

Then this morning the pulmonologist took him off the CPAP and put him on just oxygen in the nose. His oxygen level has remained in the normal range and his mental function is so much better. Then this afternoon he decided he was hungry. He has had trouble eating since August. Chest tube is still draining, pancreas drain is still draining, and he is watching the Nascar races, football and baseball games. Hopefully he will have a good night tonight.